What sort of thing are we talking about? Examples of Denglish words include alcopop, outsourcing, lifestyle, in-house, download, lobbyist, terminal, brainstorming and wellness.

They've chosen all the worst ones! There are worse still. The Germans are particularly fond of pseudo-anglicisms of their own devising: "handy" for mobile phone; "sprayer" for graffiti artist; "peeling" for body scrub; "showmaster" for TV show host.

Is this a new thing? The borrowing certainly isn't. Germans have been pinching English words and phrases since the Allied occupation – jeep, rock, quiz – especially where no ready German synonyms existed. Before the second world war, such borrowings were usually translated literally, eg Wolkenkratzer for "skyscraper".

But the backlash is new? Newish. Back in 2009, Germany's transport minister launched a campaign to rid his department of Anglicisms such as "deadline" and "meeting".

I don't really see the problem, but then I would say that. Neither do younger Germans, most of whom have a grasp of English, or at least Denglish. It's the older generation that is left feeling alienated and excluded by the use of foreign words in advertising and politics.

Do say: "Borrowing can enliven and enrich any language, but the word 'wellness' demeans us all."

Don't say: "I can't help it – the Denglish invasion fills me with good old English schadenfreude."